The Other Four
by kumatakarada
Summary: Fukuda Tomoi, recently promoted to One-Star, Ritsuki Eva, One-Star club president, Kaoru Nanami, No-Star, and Koyama Ango, Two-Star club president. In the grand scheme of things, they weren't anyone important and nothing they were doing really mattered. They were just four students, another four faces in the crowd, doing their best to survive at Honnouji Academy. [OCxOC Femslash]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This fic is also posted on Archive of our Own and some of the formatting looks better there. It also has tags and the full summary. /works/2336876/chapters/5149718**

Chapter 1- Out of all the Stars in the Sky, You Chose me.

An alarm clock was going off. The digital beep wasn't something he had gotten used to yet. After a few minutes, the sleepy mind of Fukuda Tomoi realized that the beeping sound was coming from the new digital clock resting on top of his new nightstand that was next to his new bed. Everything was new, but he supposed that's what happens when you get promoted up a star. His hand aimlessly pressed around the clock until he hit the snooze button.

Tomoi sat up in his bed, taking in his new bedroom. The One-Star residence had actually came with most of the furniture and other necessities. Anything that had come from his old home was still inside cardboard boxes or in their new basement. It had only been a day since they moved in and Tomoi didn't feel like unpacking just yet. It wasn't laziness, but more like there was nothing in the boxes that he really needed at the moment.

When he actually got out of bed, it really set in how big the room was. He certainly wouldn't consider it huge, but it was bigger than he was used to. In fact, Tomoi could probably unpack most of his boxes and still have room, but then again, he didn't exactly own a lot of things to begin with.

Putting those thoughts aside, he made his way to the bathroom. He had his own now, and it was inside as well, just a quick walk down the hall.

Tomoi entered his bathroom with a yawn. He stretched slightly before making his way over to the shower.

Consistent flow of comfortably warm water was also a new luxury. Tomoi had found himself hard-pressed to actually get out of the shower, but he didn't want to be late for class.

When it finally came to getting dressed, Tomoi found himself staring in the mirror somewhat awkwardly. His slightly damp grayish brown hair was a bit messy and his black eyes still had a bit of sleep in them. His new uniform was seemingly the same as his old one minus the giant singular star on the front and matching star pin on the collar. He turned, admiring the uniform from different angles. Honestly he never expected to become a One-Star. He attributed it all to the club president, but she was bound to tell him otherwise and assure him it was because of his hardwork. Tomoi decided that he would let her have it; it was better than making her upset.

Once he had everything that he needed packed away in his school bag, he left his room and made his way towards the kitchen, which was the closest to the front door. Tomoi had found his mother in the kitchen, going through cabinets and looking over appliances. It wasn't as if she was confused by how they worked or anything like that, but rather as if she was still taking in how new everything was. He felt the same way.

"Hi Mom."

The woman turned around and gave her son a smile, "Good morning Tomoi! I knew you were up, but I didn't expect you to be ready so soon. Though, you always have left for school early."

"Yeah, I was just about to take off actually.."

"Really? I was going to make breakfast. Here, let me see if I can get you something quick to eat," she had turned to look through the fridge, but before she had the door fully open, Tomoi spoke up.

"No, Mom, its fine, really."

She looked up from the fridge and turned towards Tomoi. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm used to it so.." He watched as a slight frown became evident on her face.

His mother sighed, "Alright, if you say so. Have a good day at school."

Tomoi nodded, "I will, oh and I might be home late. Eva and Nanami said they wanted to celebrate me getting promoted up a star."

The smile returned to her face, "Those two are so sweet. Tell them I said hello."

"I will." Tomoi started to walk over to the door. "See you later Mom."

"Bye sweetie. Love you."

He paused with the knob of the half opened door in his hand. Looking back at his mother, Tomoi gave her a small smile, "Love you too."

The rail-car that carried students up to the school was mostly empty at this time in the morning. Tomoi lived by the first stop in the One-Star district and there were barely any people on it when he stepped on. The only students who really needed to get to school this early were the club presidents who had morning meetings to attend. Tomoi was technically the vice-president of a club and was allowed in the meetings, but that wasn't his only reason for willingly waking up so early. That lied with the president herself, who had just gotten onto the rail-car. Once she noticed him she waved and walked over to him.

Ritsuki Eva was the president of the animal care-taking club, and unlike most other presidents, she was a One-Star. She was shorter than Tomoi, being only a few inches past his shoulders. Her light pink hair was short, not even coming close to grazing her shoulders, had a bit of a fluff to it, and there was also a black ribbon tied in it.

She spoke up when she was next to him. "Good morning Tomoi."

"Hey, morning."

"You look good, ah wait... I mean, the uniform looks good, on you." She stumbled on her words a bit. "It suits you."

"Thanks."

Eva looked around at the other few students that were aboard the rail-car with them. "Nanami isn't here?"

"I don't feel like she should have to get up this early just for today. She also insisted on doing all the preparations for that party too, so she could be busy with that."

She was silent for a moment. The only sound between them being the car starting to move.

"Are you worried about her?" Tomoi asked, breaking the short silence. "You shouldn't be, I mean, she isn't going to let herself be late for the tenth time this month."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

The mostly empty car had begun to fill up at a fast rate when it stopped in the Two-Star district. Club presidents poured in, each one sporting their own unique uniform representing whatever their club was. Being surrounded by all of them made Tomoi feel a bit insignificant and intimidated, despite this being a daily occurrence. Even though he had been promoted, he still felt so far below them. That feeling of insignificance only grew when the rail car had moved into the shadows belonging to the tall buildings of the Three-Star district. There were no stops. The structures stood on both sides, but their shade was not intimidating it just held a presence. Tomoi always felt more at ease once they exited out of the shadow.

The club presidents hurried out once they arrived at Honnouji, the punishments for being late to the morning meetings being much more worse than what normal students suffered when they were late to their classes. Tomoi caught a few of them glancing at him and Eva as they exited. He supposed that the two of them did stick out a bit. Most One-Star clubs were wiped out, promoted to Two-Stars, or eventually merged with another club. Their club wasn't supposed to have lasted this long. The two of them had gotten used to it, and the stares felt slightly less judgmental now that he had been promoted to One-Star. Tomoi shrugged it off and wondered if Eva even noticed.

They were walking through the hall towards the meeting when he spoke up again, "I don't think I'm going to go in this one."

Since Tomoi wasn't the actual president of the club he really had no obligations to attend the meetings. Being the vice president would let him go in if he wanted to and it was his job to go if Eva was ever absent, but that was about it. He was asking himself why he chose to get up early if he didn't feel like going into the meeting. Tomoi had been confused with himself a lot recently.

"That's fine." She had stopped walking to look at him. "Is everything okay though?"

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. Its just, you know..."

"You don't have to try to explain yourself. I understand if you don't want to. ...I just appreciate you coming with me." The smile Eva gave him was genuine. "I'll see you after class then." She continued down the hall and Tomoi remained standing where he was until she was out of sight.

He wondered about his feelings for a moment, but decided that he shouldn't think too much about things that couldn't put his life in danger while he was at school.

The halls were pretty empty. Most of the students who were at school already were in meetings. It was too late for him to go back on his decision because they didn't let people into meetings late. Being left to his own devices Tomoi simply decided to walk around the school.

He stayed in the general area of where his first class was located. There was no point in arriving so early if he still ended up being late. The calm hallways were a nice breath of fresh air. Honnouji seemed less dangerous before school officially started for the day. Tomoi did not have a way to actually check the time but figured that the more students entered the school, the closer it got to the start of classes. Tomoi did not know what it was like when the first bell rang at more normal high schools but he imagined it wasn't like how it was at Honnouji.

Delinquents or otherwise, everyone would always hurry to class. The punishment for too many consecutive tardies was harsh but one of the few life threatening things that could be avoided. Tomoi walked to his class but not as the fast as the other students around him as he really wasn't in any real danger of being late.

"Tomoi! Tomoi hey wait up!" A voice called from behind Tomoi. He turned to see who it was, but they had ran ahead so that they would be in front of him.

One of the first things anyone would notice about Kaoru Nanami would be her uniform. She wore a winter No-Star uniform, though it was exactly same as the other uniforms except for the long sleeves. She was around the same height as Tomoi and had long blonde hair. Her long bangs were kept out her face with a plain, white headband.

"Morning Nanami, glad you made it here on time."

"Yeah, me too! My sisters were being a real pain and I almost missed the last rail-car!"

"I couldn't imagine having three younger sisters. I honestly don't know how you do it."

"Well... it isn't that bad!" Nanami waved her hand dismissively. "I've gotten used to it. They're just kids so I can't get too mad at them."

"I understand, but uh-,"

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

"Well no, just, you have the same first class as Eva right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Isn't it on the other side of the school?"

Nanami paused for a moment and then realization hit her. "Oh my god you're right-gotta go talk to you later bye!" As soon as the rushed together sentence left her mouth, Nanami ran down the hallway. Tomoi sincerely hoped she made it to her class on time.

He continued on his way to his own class. The halls were practically empty so he picked up the pace. As soon as he had the handle of the door in hand, the bell rang. Tomoi sighed, opened the door, and stepped inside.

"You're late Fukuda."

Tomoi flinched slightly at the voice of his teacher.

"This is your first tardy in a while. Try not to make it a habit."

"Yes ma'am." He walked to his desk without another word. Tomoi sometimes wondered if classes at Honnouji really had a point. Most teachers didn't care about teaching, some cared too much, and others tried to act like they were teaching at some normal high school. Even so, he took his notebook out. There was no point in thinking too hard about things that didn't put his life in danger.

In between classes there was a brief 10 minute passing period. Tomoi, Eva, and Nanami would always meet up during this time as they had their second class together. The two girls had already arrived their usual meeting spot and Tomoi walked over to them.

Nanami greeted him with a grin, "Tomoi, Eva and I were just talking about how amazing the little party we're throwing for you is going to be. I really think I've outdone myself compared to what we did when Eva got promoted, but I won't ruin the surprise for you!"

"We're going to hold it in the club room right after school since there's no meeting today," Eva added.

"Thanks you two, I'm really looking forward to it, but you know you didn't have to do all this just for me becoming a One-Star."

"There he goes again!" Nanami sighed. "We're doing this because you're our friend and we're happy for you!"

"That's right, Tomoi, and well... any accomplishment like this should be celebrated! Becoming a One-Star is a big deal."

"Yeah. Yeah, both of you are right. I'm sorry, I've been feeling a bit out of it lately. I really do appreciate everything you do for me."

"Is everything okay? You know, if you're comfortable with it, you can tell us about anything," Eva said with a bit of worry in her tone.

"I know. I just think it's because of something I've had on my mind recently. Don't worry about it."

"Alright, if you say so."

"Guys, I just thought of something!" Nanami spoke up and the other two turned towards her.

"What is it Nanami?" Tomoi asked.

"I guess this may sound kind of cheesy, but I think we should make today a turning point!"

Eva looked a bit confused, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well with Tomoi being promoted we should all strive to for something. We can make goals! It'll be like New Year's Resolutions but we actually keep them!"

"So normal resolutions?" Tomoi questioned.

"I think it sounds like a pretty good idea Nanami," Eva said. "What kind of goals did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking to try to stop being late so often! I don't even want to think about what will happen if I'm late one more time this month!" Nanami forced a nervous laugh.

As if on cue, Tomoi and Eva saw two male students walking toward them. Nanami turned her head to see what her two friends were looking at and her face almost instantly paled.

Members of Honnouji's disciplinary committee were easy to recognize. If their armbands weren't dead giveaways, they could usually be identified by their terrifying and imposing presence. One of them was holding a sheet of paper, which he looked over before speaking.

"Kaoru Nanami."

For a moment Nanami was seriously considering just breaking out in a mad dash. She knew that one of the windows in this hallway overlooked the pool so she might be able to survive the jump. She could also try to trick them into running into some of the spikes around the campus, but Nanami didn't run.

"Yes, that's me," she said in attempt to be calm, her voice shaking.

"Today was your tenth tardy for the month."

"Oh was it?" She chuckled nervously even though playing dumb couldn't save her life. "I mean, around this time last month I had almost double that so..." She gave up. There was no reasoning with them. Nanami sighed. "What's my punishment this time?"

He looked over the paper once more. "Sewing club experiment."

Suddenly, getting torn up by broken glass and crashing into the ice cold pool didn't sound so bad.

"For just being late? Seriously?! But-!" Nanami stopped herself from digging herself into an even deeper hole, but she couldn't imagine how this could possible get worse.

"You are to come immediately."

Nanami didn't have to time to realize what was going on until it had already happened. The two had grabbed her by the arms and were already starting down the hall. She looked back at Tomoi and Eva but they didn't speak. She couldn't think of anything to yell to them that could express the feeling of "You guys! This is probably the last time we'll see each other! I'm going to die."

Oh god. I'm going to die.

She didn't start crying until she was out of sight.

The scene that had just unfolded did not feel real to Tomoi and Eva. They knew that it had just happened, but they did not want to accept the hand fate had just dealt to them. It happened too fast. It was too much.

The bell rang.

The two started walking to class, but the dread surrounding them might as well have been visible.

Eva was the first to speak up. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

Tomoi almost stopped walking to look at her.

It was a stupid question and they both knew it. She probably knew that more than he did though. Tomoi couldn't give her an answer. He didn't want to spout out a lie they both knew was false but saying no and accepting their friend was dead wasn't something he wanted to do either.

He noticed she had picked up her pace.

Right. We can't be late.

Nanami was tightly and uncomfortably strapped to what she could only assume was an operating table. Her blindfolded eyes were alternating between being clenched shut in anticipation of pain and wide open in fear. She could hear movement and voices above her. The blindfold was surprisingly thin and she could make out a few shadows. The red light did not qualm any of her fears and Nanami was positive when she heard an unfamiliar voice say "Begin" that her heart stopped.

There was a prick at her forehead. She was positive it was a needle. The prick slowly became a stab and she worried they were going to drive a needle right through her skull. Luckily they must have stopped when they reached bone. There was another prick of a needle. Then there were more. It was slow and agonizing and she didn't understand why this was happening. Nanami couldn't tell if it was blood or sweat dampening the blindfold.

She wondered why they didn't numb her. She wondered why they didn't just put her under. She wondered if it was okay to wish for a quick death so this could just be over. She could tell she was close to blacking out and wondered if it was okay for her to be happy about that.

The three of them normally ate lunch together in the cafeteria, but today's situation was not normal. Tomoi and Eva were sitting at the same table. Their lonely silence was blocking out the noise around them. They had not exchanged a single word since Eva's question.

It almost seemed morbid but halfway through their first year at Honnouji the three of them had devised a plan of what to do in case one of them died. Depending on who it was, one of them was supposed to go to the deceased student's home and tell their family. The other was to gather up their friend's belongings and bring them to the family. They hoped their actions would help soften the blow of the death of a child and being kicked out of their home on the same day.

Tomoi thought about Nanami's family, her three younger sisters, and the pit in his stomach just got deeper. It was threatening to swallow him up. He knew Eva had been fighting tears ever since Nanami got taken away, but he couldn't think of anything to say to her. Anything he thought of was a simple phrase of small comfort that held no meaning. He thought about how he shouldn't think too much about things that couldn't put his life in danger, but maybe it was his thinking that had put Nanami's life in danger.

"If I had gone to that meeting." His voice was barely a whisper and Eva looked up at him. She didn't fully hear what was said but just knew he said something.

"Hey! What are you two doing looking so sad like that?" A voice called out from behind them. They didn't have time to turn and see who it was because the person calling to them had already quickly moved in front of them.

It was Eva who jumped up first and hugged Nanami. All the tears she had been fighting had come out all at once. People were starting to stare, but she didn't care at all.

Nanami looked mostly fine. The only thing different about her was the fact that the top of her head, forehead included, was completely wrapped up in bandages. While she reassured Eva that everything was going to be okay and that she was fine, Nanami looked to Tomoi. She was smiling and clearly invited to him to join in on the hug. He got up from the table but simply stood next to the two girls. Tomoi was truly relieved and happy despite what his actions might have said.

"I'm glad you're okay Nanami."

Eva nodded in agreement and pulled herself away from the hug, wiping a few tears from her eyes. The girl's tears had left some slightly noticeable stains on the shoulder of Nanami's uniform, but she didn't say anything.

"Eva cheer up, I'm fine! Just look at me! Honestly if you keep this up people are going to think I'm some jerk who likes to make cute girls cry!" Nanami said this with a grin. Eva laughed lightly and all three of them were smiling.

They sat back down at their usual table, and inevitably, the question was asked.

"Nanami," Tomoi started, "what did they do to you?"

"Uh well..." She looked around nervously and lowered her voice. "I'm not exactly at the liberty to say that at the moment."

"Oh."

"But..." Nanami once again glanced around and hushed her voice even more. She leaned in and the other two followed suit.

"But?"

"Well, I saw their president and he was... surprisingly cute!" Nanami had brought her voice back to her normal volume when she said the last part of her statment and grinned at her friends.

They supposed her special talent was lightening the mood.

"I think you need to get your priorities in order," Tomoi commented.

"Come on, I'm fine! Now that this is behind me, I'm allowed to joke about it."

"I guess."

Any contintuation of their conversation was stopped by the voice of the transfer student who was making quite the name for herself. "Life Fiber Synchronize: Kamui Senketsu!"

Everyone in the cafeteria had turned their heads to see the infamous Matoi Ryuko surrounded by a group of students. Their decorated One-Star uniforms made them recognizable as the members of some club. At a generally safe distance from the fight, Mankanshoku Mako was sitting, cheering for her friend.

"You can do it, Ryuko!"

"Really, at lunch? Geez," Nanami commented unamused.

The arrival of the transfer student had certainly made lives harder for the other students at Honnouji. More people were making clubs and the rivalry between them became more prevelent. It was easy to get caught in the crossfire of two clubs fighting or Matoi fighting against one. To anyone who didn't plan on actually fighting, the girl with the scissor blade and strange battle bikini was just another danger to avoid.

"What club is it this time?" Nanami asked, expecting either Tomoi or Eva to have the answer.

"The uniforms look really familiar," Tomoi responded.

"It's the Reading and Writing Club, but it's better known as the Literature Club. The president, Koyama Ango, has a reputation of being pretty brutal," Eva said after a bit of thought.

"Eva how do you know all that?" Nanami asked.

"Well, club presidents are always talking about each other..."

"So you guys gossip? How mean! I'm kidding. No-Stars talk about everyone. You wouldn't believe the crazy rumors I've heard!" Nanami paused. "Nothing about you guys though!" She let out a nervous chuckle. "Anyways, what's so brutal about this Koyama girl?"

"You don't remember what happened last year?"

Nanami shook her head.

"Well last year the clubs for reading and writing were originally separate clubs. They had a bit of a rivalry but it was mostly friendly."

"Now I remember," Tomoi cut in. "Koyama was a member of one of those clubs but she took both presidents out and merged the two clubs. She also takes out a lot of new clubs before they can get on their feet, apparently."

"Huh. Yeah she does sound pretty dangerous," Nanami said while thinking. She looked back over at the fight.

"Decapitation Mode!"

"So where's this Koyama girl then? Nobody over there fighting really looks like they could be the club president."

The naked bodies of the defeated students were now laying about the cafeteria. Matoi had transformed back to normal and was already leaving with her friend by her side. The remaining students simply continued what they were doing before the fight had began.

"I've heard that part of Koyama's strategy is learning about her opponents before she fights them." Eva explained.

"What?" Nanami looked back at the students on the ground. "So she just sent people who probably looked up to her to fight knowing they'd lose? Then she uses their loss to benefit herself?" She scowled before turning back. "That's awful."

"Yeah," Tomoi said, "but it's in style these days."

School had just ended ten minutes ago. Eva was sitting on the table in the center of her club room. She was lightly kicking her legs as they dangled off the side of the table. Tomoi was sitting at the table normally. They were both waiting for Nanami.

The door to the room opened after a light knock. Nanami strolled in with a grin stretching from ear to ear on her face. She was holding a plastic grocery in her hands and the bandages wrapped around her head were now gone, replaced with a simple one on her forehead.

"Sorry I'm late but I have some news," Nanami started as she walked over to the table. "The sewing club called me back."

Worry and fear instantly crossed their faces, though the fact that Nanami was present and alive made them less afraid of the news that was to come.

"Turns out they were so surprised I survived, they wanted me to join their club!" she said excitedly.

"Really? That's great Nanami!" Tomoi said, standing up from his seat.

Eva hopped down from the table and smiled, "I guess we're celebrating two things then!"

"Well don't get too excited yet. The position is just inventory." Nanami waved one hand dismissively while the other went through the bag she was carrying.

Tomoi faked an overdramatic sigh. "There she goes being humble again."

"Didn't we all agree any promotion was a big deal?" Eva added.

"You're right. I should be more excited about this! I cheated death and came out victorious! This is a party so I should act like it!" Nanami pulled out three handmade party hats out of the bag. "Here you guys go."

Things suddenly felt a lot more festive once they put the hats on. Nanami set the bag on the table, revealing that it was filled with confetti made from scrap paper varying from old homework assignments to newspapers.

"Now before we really started..." Nanami rummaged through her school bag and pulled out three sheets of paper and some pens. "I was thinking we should write our resolutions and goals down!"

In unspoken agreement, Eva and Tomoi took the sheets of paper and something to write with. Once all three of them had finished, Nanami took their papers without looking. Without a second thought she tore the papers up and mixed the shreds in with the confetti. Nanami tossed the bag up in the air and it was raining paper.

Tomoi didn't understand her actions. Though maybe he wasn't supposed to? Everything was so carefree and they didn't have to worry about anything. They were laughing about paper because in the moment it was the most hilarious thing. Their lives weren't in danger so he was allowed to think about whatever he wanted. Tomoi didn't though. He laughed, smiled, and all of his thoughts were focused on the moment. He didn't worry about anything. It was some of the most fun three nobodies could have.

**A/N: This whole story has been such a work in progress for so long, but I'm so glad I'm finally getting to post it! Basically I've always loved Honnouji but was sad we never really got to see more of it as an actual school if that makes sense. So this fic is going to be the life of some students at the school. It'll be following the main story so spoilers. Also I'll just say it again none of the main characters, like Ryuko, Satsuki, Mako, or the Devas will be present here. Thank you for taking the time to read my fic and I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter as much as I am! My tumblr is magnoliabaalbuster if you want to send me an ask or anything like that. There's also a link to my twitter there too!**


	2. Chapter 2

Honnouji was surprisingly calm after school. Club meetings were finishing up for the day and students were exiting the school in small groups. The quiet halls could almost pass themselves off as belonging to a normal high school.

Eva was standing in the doorway of her club room. She waved to the three students walking away. They were the other members and she was really looking forward to seeing them again at their next meeting. Once they turned a corner and were out of her sight she stopped waving and pulled her hand back. She was the only one currently at the club, as Tomoi insisted on turning in this week's paperwork and Nanami was still busy in the sewing club. Not counting the noise from the animals, the entire room- no, the whole floor- seemed so quiet. How lucky for her that she was the only club on this floor today.

_The lights weren't on when she first walked into the room. Both of her arms were weighed down with a heavy stack of paper, but she was able to find a table to set it down before she completely tipped over. Eva knew starting a club wouldn't be easy, but it was pretty overwhelming that all the papers they had given her were just the registration forms. She reassured herself that it was probably just to scare off people who weren't serious about the responsibility of being a club president as she went to turn on the lights. _

"_No time to waste," she said to herself with a confident little smile. Eva sat herself at the table and began to fill out the forms in front of her. Students with approved after-school activities didn't have to leave campus for another hour or so, and she wanted to get as much done as possible before heading home. She was so wrapped up in her work that she didn't notice someone else walk into the room until they were behind her._

"_Hey." _

_Eva jumped a bit in her seat when she heard the voice. She turned her head and looked up so she could see who was speaking to her. Her eyes were first drawn to the two stars on his uniform, which almost instantly put a bit of worry in her heart. There was no way someone would try to wipe out her club so soon. Wanting to balance the situation a bit, she stood from her seat and got a better look at him. The unknown boy had long black hair tied back in a ponytail, and was staring down at her through the rectangular frames of his glasses. _

"_Um...can I help you?"_

"_Fight me."_

_She tilted her head in confusion, "What…?"_

"_You're the president of this club right? I want you to fight me." _

"_Listen, I'm not officially a club yet so...uh," she twiddled her fingers nervously as she spoke, "I mean, you w-wouldn't really benefit from fighting me at all!" _

"_I know." He took off the coat of his uniform and set it down on the table. It looked like he was being careful to not disturb the stacks of paper resting there as well. Eva saw what looked like paintbrushes in the coat's inner pockets. "I won't be using my uniform, so will you fight me now?" _

_"That's not really the issue here..."_

_"So then you'd fight me if I used the powers of my uniform? Pretty brave for a No-Star," he spoke, now reaching to take his coat back._

_"N-no! Of course not!" Eva sighed, "There's no point. You wouldn't even be wiping out a potential threat or anything like that... I'm not strong at all and like I said, my club doesn't officially exist yet. If for some reason you really want to fight me, you could come back when I'm done with all the paperwork."_

"_If you think you're weak you should form an alliance with my club," he suggested._

_She was even more confused now, "You want me to what?"_

"_Of course you'll stay independent." His voice had begun to rise in excitement. "We both can support each other. Doesn't that sound like a good idea?"_

"_Um, well, not really."_

"_What do you mean? Maybe it doesn't look like it, but my club is pretty strong. We could watch your back while you get everything set up for your club. Like I said, your club can stay independent so there's no need to worry about that."_

"_That's the problem. You're going to support me, but there's nothing I can do to pay you back. I mean… I didn't make the club to fight so I'm really just useless." She looked down. "That's why I keep telling you that you shouldn't even bother with me." Eva looked back up and was surprised at the look of real concern on his face._

"_Useless? Oh come on, nobody is useless. Why do you feel that way?"_

_She looked down. "I…-" _

The door opened. Eva was staring off into space but she looked over at the sound. Tomoi stepped into the room. His empty hands let her know that all their paperwork had been turned in.

"How did it go?"

"It was fine, but I was told that unless it is an actual emergency you need to turn in the paperwork. It's for the sanctity of the documents and a proof of your commitment as president, I guess. It seems more like nitpicking to me though."

"I understand. If I can't do something as simple as turning in paperwork then I'm not worthy to even be running a club. It's my fault for forcing my work on you, sorry," she lowered her head.

"Eva, hey, I'm the one who insisted on taking it this time," Tomoi put his hand on her shoulder, "Besides, you spend _hours_ filling out those forms. I think you've proven your worth just fine. Don't beat up on yourself like that."

"I have been doing that a lot recently, haven't I?"

After saying that she looked at him. They had known each other for a long time and she knew that when she blamed herself it also made Tomoi feel bad. She thought of how to apologize, but maybe putting more blame on herself would make things worse? She opened her mouth to take back her previous phrase when the door opened, and a light came in.

Nanami, as usual, wore a cheerful smile on her face. It had been a few days since her incident with the sewing club, so there was no longer a bandage on her face. She closed the door behind her and stepped a bit closer. While she hadn't known them as long as they had known each other, Nanami could recognize this situation- she wouldn't mention it, though.

"Hey you guys!" She relied upon being able to cheer them up and lighten the mood. "What's up?"

"Oh hey, Nanami." Tomoi spoke up first.

Eva swallowed her planned sentence and gave a small smile. "Nothing much, really. How was club today?"

"Well, nothing too interesting happened, unless you want to know about what happened with this one pleated skirt-" There was an audible buzz which was followed by a muffled chime. "Eva- that's your phone isn't it?"

"Oh- yeah, it is." She reached for her bag and pulled out a small phone. The other two drew closer and the atmosphere relaxed. "It was just a text." Eva smiled a bit when she read it.

"Who's it from?" Nanami asked.

"My sister. I've told you guys about her before, right?"

"Eruka, I remember her." Tomoi said.

"She goes to school in Osaka right?" Nanami added.

"Kyoto, actually... Abekamo Academy," Eva mumbled.

"Right, right!" Nanami chuckled in slight embarrassment, "So what does it say?"

"Well she attached a photo, so here let me just show you guys..." She turned her phone around to show them the message and the photo.

"'I'm growing my hair out, what do you think?' " Tomoi read aloud.

The photo attached showed a girl who looked very similar to Eva. Her hair was a darker shade and reached down past her shoulders, with bangs that slightly covered her right eye. She wore a slight smile.

"Wow, you two really are twins!" Nanami said looking the photo over. "I've never met her before, what's she like?"

"Well… I'm not sure how to describe her. She would always look out for me, but we haven't really seen each other in a while… I'll just have to introduce you to her sometime, okay?"

"That's fine with me. I'll look forward to it then!" Nanami smiled, "Oh, and when you reply, tell her we say hi!"

"Alright." Eva looked down at her phone to type out her reply.

"Are you planning to see her soon?" Tomoi asked.

"I think so-I hope so." Once she sent the text she put her phone down. "You haven't seen her since we were kids, right Tomoi? I talk about you both a lot so I'm sure she'd really like to see you guys. Her being busy isn't really an issue, but…"

"Getting away from this place is," Nanami finished.

The three of them left school to go home together that was a rule that prohibited students from loitering on school grounds for too long once the day was over. Those who were a part of approved activities, like clubs, could stay for longer, but still had to leave at a certain point.

When they reached the station for the railcar, Nanami almost shouted in shock as she realized she had forgotten her bag back in Eva's club room. She yelled a quick goodbye as she ran back towards the school and encouraged her friends to go on without her.

Tomoi and Eva rode the car back to the 1-Star District, keeping a brief and casual conversation between themselves. Since it was starting to get a bit late for students to be leaving school, they were the only ones on it. Once they arrived at the station, the two went their separate ways. High school was the first time where that they hadn't lived next door to each other.

There weren't many people out at this time. The sun had already started setting, so the streets had the same silence that the hallways had, except for the occasional car. Eva always thought it was interesting how different it was from the slums. At this time, she imagined, the place was only just starting to get alive- and in a few hours, the nightlife would be out in full force. It was a nice comfort to walk home without feeling the need to constantly look over her shoulder- but to her, something still felt off.

"I'm home," she called when she stepped through her front door. The lights were on but she didn't get a response. Worrying her voice was too soft or quiet, Eva thought about repeating herself, but didn't when her dad stepped out from the next room.

"Welcome home, Eva. How was your day?"

She stepped out of her shoes and left them by the closed door. Of course, asking "How was school?" was really a silly question. "It was good. We had fun at club today."

"I'm glad to hear that."

For a few seconds Eva stood silently before she, bag in her hands, started for the stairs. She stopped when she was halfway up and looked back down. "Do you need help with dinner tonight?"

"No, its fine sweetie. I'm just about to start making it. Is there anything you want?"

"You can pick tonight. I'll be up in my room, okay?" She continued up the stairs.

When Eva entered her room she set her bag down before turning on the lights. Some light from the setting sun still came in from the window, even though the curtains were closed. Maybe it was just because of their light color. Even with the dull orange light she couldn't make out the details of everything. Eva saved the lights for last in an empty hope that something would be different from how she left it. She flipped the switch and everything was the same, just like always.

_The room was full of light, but only because all the lights were on. The windows were open, but she supposed that was only to keep the smell of paint from filling the room. His subject for today was a blue pot full of fake red flowers. He told her the colors provided a nice contrast. From her perspective the flowers were obviously fake but the ones he had started painting looked real enough._

"_Hey…" Eva spoke up, but didn't get a response- so it was possible he didn't hear her. There were others in the room too and they were talking. It'd make sense if they overwhelmed her voice before it reached him. "...hey, um-"_

"_I heard you." Eva assumed, by looking at the back of his head, that he was looking over the flower he had just finished before he turned around to her. He smiled slightly when he looked at her. She didn't know how to tell him a small dab of red paint was on the rim of his glasses. "What do you need?"_

"_Your painting is really good but, uh… why did you ask me to come here?"_

"_I wanted to show you I'm not all about fighting. We do actual paintings in this club too. I figured if I showed you this, you'd trust me."_

"_I do… Me not forming that alliance with you wasn't about trust at all. I already told you why so…" _

"_Ritsuki- do you want this?" He asked suddenly._

"_Huh?"_

_He motioned in the direction of the unfinished red flowers. "When I'm finished, do you want it? I think it'll turn out nice."_

"_What? No, there's no way I could just take it from you... You'd probably want to put it up in here or something…"_

"_You're right. I'll paint something else for you if you want. Is yellow good? I think yellow would look nice." His voice sped up, already getting excited thinking about his next piece._

_Eva stood up. "If I say yes, it isn't some bribe to get me to team up with you, right?"_

"_Of course not. I'm just doing something nice. Do you know how many people think us Two-Star Presidents are monsters? I mean some can be, but, you know. Besides, this is only if you want it."_

"_...Only if its not too much trouble." _

_He grinned. "So that's a yes!" _

Eva sat down on her bed. Across from her on the wall was a small painting- she insisted on the smaller canvas. He was right, the yellow did look nice.

"I'm home!" Nanami called when she walked into her home. She was greeted with three children running to hug her.

"Big sis!" the three cried happily. Nanami was in the middle of taking her shoes off when they all jumped to hug her.

"Oh, hey you guys," she laughed lightly, giving them the best hug back she could while being overwhelmed.

"How was school?"

"Do you have any leftovers from lunch?"

"Did you win any fights?"

Nanami set the three girls down and took off her other shoe. "Kaori, school was fine. No, I don't, Masami, but I'll save something for you next time. And well, Minako, I didn't lose any fights."

The three girls gave their mixed reactions and Nanami smiled.

Kaori was the oldest of the three. Her hair was dark,and she always had Nanami tie it into two pigtails with white ribbons. No matter what, they were always coming out by the end of the day. Masami was the second oldest and hardly spoke except when she had questions to ask. She liked ponytails. Minako was the youngest, but was like the leader of their little trio. She looked the most like Nanami and loved to mimic her sister's attitude.

"Nanami, there's a group of kids who messed with us on the way home!" Kaori declared.

Masami nodded silently to confirm what was just said.

"What happened?"

"The boy who seemed like their leader said he was lightning something! We didn't really have anything, so they didn't steal anything, but still!" Kaori folded her arms.

"It wasn't fun," Masami added.

"Sis, can you do something? Or should we try and beat them up ourselves? I can do it!" Minako seemed overly excited to possibly take down the group.

"Don't try that, Minako, but good on you for being brave enough. I'll do something though, don't worry." She ruffled her youngest sister's hair and watched as the three of them returned to what they were doing before she walked in.

Nanami went to the kitchen- cooking dinner was always her responsibility. It was a very small room, but she always thought they were pretty lucky that it was there at all. It had a fridge that came up to about Nanami's waist, a sink, an oven with an electric stove on top, a small set of cabinets, and just barely enough counter space to be considered useful.

She opened the fridge and frowned when she saw how little was actually in it. Dinners recently consisted of leftovers with something new added to it until it was basically leftovers of leftovers. Nanami found a way to make them taste decent enough and knew when to finally throw stuff out, though she always hoped they would just completely go through something before it went bad. In any case, it seemed like there wasn't enough to feed everyone unless she dumped everything in a large pot and hoped for the best.

Giving up on the fridge for now, she went to the cabinet. To her it was like striking gold, because in the back, hiding behind boxes that were basically empty, she found a package of bread. Nanami reached and pulled it out. Five slices were secure in the plastic wrapping and the letters on the brandless packaging told her they were very far from expiring. Her dinner problem would almost be solved if she could just find something to put between the bread in order to actually call it a sandwich- though, ketchup sandwiches had served up more than a few times.

"Nanami?"

She turned at the voice. Her dad walked in; he looked as if he had just woken up and there were small marker drawings on his face. That at least explained what her sisters were up to.

"Hey Dad! I'm just working on dinner in here. What do you think about sandwiches?" She set the package of bread down on the counter and opened it.

"Sandwiches sound good." He opened the mostly-empty fridge to see what things to throw out.

Nanami hummed softly to herself as she got a knife to cut the bread with. "What are you doing home this early anyways, Dad? Was it a slow day?"

"No- I had today off, remember?"

"Oh right! You said so this morning."

"I was just sleeping since my other job starts at eleven today. Also, here." He handed Nanami a container filled with various leftover meat that she must have not noticed before. "We shouldn't waste all this by letting it go bad."

She opened the container, and it didn't smell spoiled. It would work fine. "Thanks- also Dad I think uh, Kaori, Masami, and Minako were drawing on your face.

"What, really?"

"The drawings are really only just on your cheek. They're stars and hearts, kinda cute."

He sighed a bit while Nanami grinned, though they both knew it was hard to really stay mad at those three.

"I better go wash my face off then."

"You do that. I'll get started on warming this up." Nanami set a frying pan on the stove and put the mystery meat on it. She couldn't exactly identify it- it looked like some mix between hamburger meat and chicken, but she wasn't complaining.

As soon as the sizzling noise started to fill her ears, Nanami heard the sound of the front door and her three sisters yelling their greetings to their mom.

"Nanami! Could you come out here and help me with these bags?" she heard the familiar voice call out to her.

"Sure Mom!" Before she walked out to the main room, Nanami turned the stove down, not wanting to burn the food.

Nanami's mom looked a bit disheveled, but that was only because of the two jobs and long shifts she had. Despite the obvious exhaustion on her face, she still greeted her family with a smile. In her arms were grocery bags that were completely full. They grabbed Nanami's attention almost immediately. While she took some from her mom's hands she greeted her. She couldn't keep from looking in the bag, and was shocked at what she saw. It was food, actual name brand food that wasn't close to expiring and with prices that she could only dream about.

"Mom. Hey, Mom how did you get all this stuff?"

"Isn't it nice?" She started walking to the kitchen with the remaining bags in her hands. "I ran into your friend's mother on the way home. She insisted on buying this for us. Can you believe it? I tried to tell her that I couldn't accept it but she wouldn't take for an answer."

Nanami knew instantly she had to be talking about Tomoi's mom, she since she had never seen Eva's mom before in her life. She was lost in thinking about how she could possibly thank his mom, but was brought back by three sets of hands tugging on the plastic to peer into the contents of the bags she was holding.

"Hold on you guys, we'll see what Mom brought home in a minute."

True to her word, Nanami's three sisters all watched in the doorway of the small kitchen while she and her mother unpacked all the food from the bags. Due to the lack of space, anything they took out had to be put away almost immediately, but the three girls would make it known whenever they saw something they liked.

"Nanami, what's this?" Her mom asked when she noticed unidentifiable, half-cooked meat on the stove.

"Oh!" She put the last box in the cabinet and turned back to the stove. "I was trying to make something for dinner, but since you brought all this home we probably won't need it."

"Nonsense. This is still perfectly good…" She paused, much like Nanami, unable to exactly discern what it was. "Whatever it is, we can't waste food. You've always been much better at cooking than I have, so I know you can use what I brought home to make something good."

"Alright!" Nanami turned back to the cabinets. She could now really look through them since there was actually food in them.

"Where's your dad?"

"He went to wash his face. Kaori, Masami, and Minako drew out him while he was sleeping," she explained while staring at a box of pasta.

The older woman turned to her three daughters who made their best innocent faces. She sighed.

"Come on you three, how about we draw something on real paper?" She led the three of them out of the kitchen.

"You can use my old homework!" Nanami called to them. As she filled a pot with water to boil the pasta, Nanami overheard her family in the main room and smiled to herself. Everyone being together made her feel like the happiest girl in the world, even if it was only for an instant.

The dinner she made went over well with everyone. Nanami had wound up putting the unidentifiable meat in the pasta and added a sauce with a name she couldn't pronounce but that certainly sounded fancy. The household was used to meals that didn't taste the best, so the main priority was whether it was actually safe to eat- though the overall reaction from all of them was that it was one of the best dinners they had ever had. There were also enough leftovers that could be stretched out over two to three days.

Soon after they had finished eating, Kaori, Masami, and Minako went to bed. Nanami's dad went to work at his second job. Nanami knew she probably wouldn't see him, since that shift ended at around 7:30 in the morning. She wondered if she was late so often because she always waited to make sure he came home.

Nanami was putting dishes away in the kitchen, because she had already washed them in the sink outside. She was standing in her favorite pair of pajamas, though the only competition it had was a nightgown. It was a pair of shirt and pants with a slightly cloudy sky pattern and a sun on one chest pocket. Her parents had gotten- or, rather, found- them for her in middle school, so the shirt didn't completely cover her stomach and the pants didn't reach her ankles. Despite that, she felt like she'd be betraying them if she tossed them out.

"Nanami, let me finish those. You have school tomorrow." Her mom walked in. She would have offered help sooner, but Minako had woken up and refused to go back to sleep without a story.

"It's fine, Mom. I'm almost done." Nanami waved the third-to-last plate for emphasis.

"You're such a big help. I really appreciate it."

"It's the least I can do, since you and Dad work so much." She put the second plate away.

"We should be thanking you for what you do. We wouldn't have the house if it weren't for your school. How we live all depends on you."

Nanami's grip on the last plate tightened. She looked down and shoved her bangs out her face. She wasn't wearing her headband.

"Nanami- I didn't mean it like that."

"It'd be nicer if I got promoted like everyone else, right?"

She felt her mom hug her. "Well, of course it would, but nobody is blaming you. We're all happy to just have a roof over our heads."

"But-"

"I'm not finished yet." She turned Nanami around. "Even if we lost everything and had to go back to how we lived before, we'd all still love you." She took the plate from Nanami's hands and put it away. "You're doing your best, so don't overwork yourself."

Nanami looked up and gave a smile. To be completely honest, she had always felt a bit jealous and threatened about her friends' promotion, but that wasn't right of her. She knew that she'd catch up to them.

"_Ta-da!"_

_Eva almost jumped out of her seat at the loud voice behind her, though she recognized it almost instantly. How did he always manage to come in when nobody else was here?_

_She stood up and turned around. _

"_H-hi." Her heart was beating a bit faster than usual, but she was pretty sure that was just the adrenaline. _

"_Hey, ta-da!" He said again, extending out the small canvas to her. It was about the size of a usual piece of paper and the flowers were yellow, like he said they would be. There were daffodils, sunflowers, and flowers she didn't think were naturally yellow but he took artistic liberties with. _

_She took the painting from his hands and looked down at it. "It… looks real." _

_He tilted his head and grinned a bit._

_Realizing what she said, she looked away a bit. "Well- of course it looks real, like the painting, but… I mean, the flowers. They look real." _

"_I'm glad you like it but, I was sorta lying about this being a no-strings-attached deal."_

_Eva looked back up him. "...What do you mean?"_

"_In return, you have to not forget about me, and before you say anything, let me explain." He paused to look at Eva and cleared his throat. "If you ever leave or vanish, whether you'll live on or not depends on people remembering about you. I want you to take that painting and remember something about me along with my name. If you don't want to then-"_

"_I'll do it." She knew how easy it was to "vanish" at Honnouji, so she accepted his offer- though Eva couldn't help but wonder why he was talking like he already knew something was going to happen. She decided it'd be better not to ask any questions._

Eva didn't usually stay up late, but she was in bed and unable to fall asleep. She was facing the wall that had the painting hung up on it, and suddenly felt very guilty.

Nanami was thinking of making a bad decision. She made sure that she arrived on time so she could thank Tomoi before class, to tell him to tell his mom thanks as well. She paid a lot of attention to the lesson that really didn't mean anything. Lunch was starting, and she wasn't going to the cafeteria because she had decided to go ahead with her bad decision.

Honnouji, surprisingly, didn't have a big library. There was a grand total of fifteen bookshelves, arranged in five rows of three, a front desk, five computers available for student use, and two empty tables for sitting around. If it weren't for the spike decorations, it would have looked like a normal, if a bit small library.

Although it was lunch time, the library was mostly empty. There were "NO EATING ALLOWED" signs located on each wall. and everyone had heard all the rumors about what happened to the last guy who was caught eating in here. The girl at the front desk looked up from her book at Nanami. She wondered if she was who she was looking for, but the single star on her standardized uniform told her the truth instantly. The other students who were walking around carrying books and sitting at the tables were wearing the unique uniforms from that day in the cafeteria, so she knew she was in the right place. Koyama Ango was somewhere in here. Luckily, Nanami didn't have to look far. The first aisle of books she looked down contained who she was searching for.

Ango had long, dark brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail with a big red ribbon. She wore red glasses and her uniform was composed of a light blue top, as opposed to the usual white, and where a ribbon would go, there was a book-shaped pin with two stars on it. Around her waist was a fairly wide red belt that held what looked like at least twenty pens. Her skirt was white and went down to her ankles. On it were quotes from well-known novels. Nanami could recognize a few of them even from the distance she was standing at.

Nanami wasn't expecting this at all. Ango took a book from the shelf and flipped through it, after reaching the desired page, she pushed her glasses up. Her initial plan was ruined. After that day, Nanami has visualized the Literature Club President as some cruel person who didn't care for the people who respected her. She didn't expect her to be cute. Nanami shook her head and slapped her cheek a little. She told herself that Ango's appearance didn't matter- she could still be awful.

Since Nanami was so distracted with her mini-crisis, she didn't realize that Ango had noticed her.

"Can I help you?" Her stare was icy and her voice was the same.

"Oh- um!" Nanami averted her gaze and twirled a bit of her hair in her fingers. "Yes, you can! This is the west library, right?"

Ango narrowed her brown eyes. "There's only one library."

"Right, right!" A few people were staring. Nanami realized that she wasn't whispering.

"Is there something you needed?"

"Actually…not at all!" She chuckled nervously and was sure she was blushing a bit. "I'll uh, be going now," Nanami whispered. "Thank you, Koyama!"

Nanami walked very quickly out of the library, not realizing she had used Ango's name. There was only one thing going through her mind-_ Koyama Ango is potentially a cruel person, and not hot. Koyama Ango is potentially a cruel person, and definitely not hot. Koyama Ango is potentially a cruel person, and definitely not attractive in any way._ Koyama Ango is potentially a cruel person, and Nanami thought she was very pretty anyways.

She joined Tomoi at their usual spot in the cafeteria. Nanami hoped she wasn't late enough to raise suspicion.

"You took longer than usual, did something happen?" he asked.

"What? No. I just- had to do something at the library, that's all."

"Did you get it done?"

"...Yeah." Nanami looked at him directly and he seemed to get the message that she didn't want to talk about it that much. "So, where's Eva? She was here today."

"She said that there was something that she needed to do, too."

"_Useless? Oh, come on, nobody is useless. Why do you feel that way?"_

_She looked down. "I… I'm only here because of dumb joke..." _

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Almost everyone in my class knows that I'm weak and I probably won't last very long… But, a few of them dared me to prove myself. If I was brave enough to try and start a club, they'd leave me alone. Just getting the papers would be fine, but for a moment there, I was actually thinking I'd go through with this. You showed me that was a ridiculous idea from the start." She choked up a little. "If someone who wasn't as nice as you came and challenged me, I'd probably… probably be dead. N-now I know though! You coming in showed me that I really am-"_

_He put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't finish that sentence. Nobody is useless. If those guys in your class think you can't run a club then you prove them wrong." _

"_How? I can't fight at all…"_

"_That doesn't matter!" His yelling made her flinch a bit so he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "Do you have something you love?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_What's your passion? What do you like?"_

_She thought for a moment. "I like animals."_

"_There you go." He took a seat at the table with all the paperwork and motioned for her to do the same. "You have an idea for a club now."_

_Eva sighed and sat back down at the table. "I guess- but, you can't say that I'll be able to run a club with just an idea."_

"_It'll take some effort, yeah, but it isn't all about whether you can beat someone up or anything. You remind me of when I started out and I got to One-Star without really fighting."_

"_R-really?"_

"_Yeah- and I'll show you how. No strings attached."_

_She looked down at the unfinished form, and then back up. "We don't have to team up?"_

"_Only if you want to."_

_Eva was silent for a bit. "Why do you want to help me, if you get nothing from it?"_

"_I'm sure 'because I want to' isn't a good enough answer, but," he paused and had a faint smile, "That's the only explanation. I just want to because nobody really helps other people anymore, if that makes sense." _

"_No- it makes sense to me, so if it isn't any trouble for you, I'll… take you up on that offer."_

"_If it was troubling me, I wouldn't ask, and really? Really?! Thank you!" He got excited. _

"_Shouldn't I be the one thanking you?"_

"_Uh, I guess? Anyways, if we're going to be working together- or, well, if I'm going to help you- we should properly introduce ourselves."_

"_Oh, right. I'm Ritsuki Eva."_

"_Nice to meet you then Ritsuki! I'm-"_

"Takanagi?" Eva asked, as she opened the door to his club. She felt less guilty since she managed to remember his last name at least. She knew that it was ridiculous to search for him here of all places, but it was good start.

There was only one person in the room, and she wasn't who Eva was expecting. She was sitting at a desk eating her lunch and there was an open sketchbook on the table. The girl looked up at the name, and her eyes widened a bit.

"Ritsuki?"

"Uh, y-yes, you remembered me?"

"Yeah. Only so many people with pink hair have ever been in here. You haven't come by in a while, so is there something you need? Come and sit down if you want."

Eva walked over but didn't sit down. She recognized this girl as Takanagi's younger sister. It made sense for her to have taken over the club. She didn't know what would be the right thing to say, so she didn't say anything.

"You want to know about my brother, right?"

She didn't respond.

"It's no skin off my back if you do. He'd be really flattered that you remembered him. I'd tell him you came by if I could…"

"So that means that..."

"He's still gone. I'm sorry."

"Y-you don't have to apologize. He's _your_ brother, right? It must trouble you more…"

"I know that he was important to you, too."

The past tense made Eva feel like something horrible had already happened to him.

"Do you want to stay and eat lunch together?"

"Maybe some other time…" She started for the door.

"You can come by anytime, you know? I can tell you some stories about when we were kids. He was always really funny."

"...That'd be nice."

_Eva rarely saw Takanagi outside of school, so she was pretty surprised to run into him in the slums of all places. He was wearing the jacket from his Two-Star uniform over a No-Star one and had a backpack that looked pretty full. She didn't know how to ask about it, so she didn't._

_Instead, she told him about how her friend Tomoi had joined the club, along with a few other students. _

"_Everything is going better than I expected. You were right about keeping a low profile." _

"_I told you. Something about you said that you'd be great at running a club, like fire in your eyes."_

_She looked at him for bit, blushing, before laughing._

"_What? Yeah- okay, that was pretty bad." He played it off with a laugh of his own. _

"_Takanagi, I don't know how to thank you for all you've done."_

"_I have an idea, and like before it might be a little weird. The next time you see me, I want you to call me by my first name." _

"_That… that's all you want, really?" _

"_That's all." He started walking, and she didn't ask where he was going. Once he was pretty far, he turned back to look at her._

"_It's a promise, Ritsuki!" he called._

_She nodded, "O-okay!" Though she was afraid that she wasn't loud enough and he didn't hear her. Takanagi turned back around and continued walking. _

_She didn't see him again._

She was hurrying down the halls. Eva hoped Tomoi and Nanami weren't waiting for her too long, but when she went the cafeteria at the start of lunch Nanami wasn't there yet. She usually didn't pack a big lunch, so she wasn't too worried about not finishing it. Her thoughts were drifting everywhere as she walked, but then she stopped. Eva's eyes widened and a smile wider than her usual ones was on her face. She didn't feel guilty anymore.

"I'll keep that promise, Mao."

The cafeteria was buzzing with the new hot topic- Sanageyama Uzu had challenged Matoi Ryuko to a fight. The fight itself was going to take place after lunch, and if someone didn't have something to already talk about, then they were talking about this.

Eva joined her two friends at their table.

"Sorry if I took too long," she apologized.

"Don't worry about it," Tomoi said.

Nanami, who seemed to have been waiting for Eva's arrival, lit up and grinned, "So! Are we going to the fight?"

"Almost everyone is g,oing so we might as well," Tomoi figured.

"If you two want to, then I don't mind going…" Eva said.

"Well-" Nanami stopped when she saw Ango walking past their table. It made sense that she'd be here since she couldn't eat in the library. The tall girl was followed by One-Star who was clearly a member of her club.

"Koyama, are you going to see the fight?"

"Naturally."

"Do you think Sanageyama is going to beat Matoi?"

"Of course not. I'm going to be the one to crush her."

"You always say such cool things like that!"

Their voices trailed off as they continued to walk.

"Nanami? Are you in there?" Tomoi's voice snapped her out of it.

"What?"

"You were going to say something."

"Oh- right! I was going to say that we should definitely go watch!" She glanced in the direction that Ango walked in. "Definitely."

Students rushed to the gymnasium once the bell had rung. Nanami, Tomoi, and Eva had difficulties staying together because of the crowd- and it didn't help that Nanami was trying to get there pretty fast. The other two had noticed something up with her, but didn't mention it.

The fight itself was pretty interesting to watch and the reactions to the victor were pretty mixed. It was easy to tell by some groans and laughs that there were students who placed bets on the results. There were varying reactions to the aftermath as well. Nudity wasn't new at Honnouji, but nobody expected to see one of the Elite Four naked. Eva, specifically, looked away.

The crowd had begun to clear as fast as it had gathered. Nanami looked around, hoping to see Ango, but had no luck. Though, she still wasn't sure what she exactly wanted from her anymore.

Rain had come suddenly that night, but she didn't care. Ango thought it was a nice atmosphere for writing. Her notebook was open to the most recent page.

"'_Of course not, because I'll be the one to crush her,' she said confidently," _Ango read aloud. She frowned slightly. "Oh no, that won't do." She reached for her eraser. "It makes me sound like a villain or something."


End file.
